So, yeah, not my kind of place. Unfortunately, I’ve been told that Kusatsu Gunma too is a resort town and so it may be quite similar to Karuizawa. I’ll suspend judgment, though, until I get there.
On a side note, I’ve seen some strange things on TV here in Japan. TV in China was mostly melodramatic soap operas, basketball, martial arts shows with cheesy, overblown effects, and the occasional minority hour (a show where a group of one of the 56 ethnic groups in China would dress up in their traditional garb and then sing and dance on stage in front of their clapping audience).
In Japan, there’s the usual news, sports, and soap operas. But as I was flipping through the channels last night, I came across what I suppose was some sort of kids’ channel. The first thing showing was a game of dodgeball in which a man in his mid 20’s ran around within a painted square as three kids around ten years old, two boys and one girl, attempted to tag him with the ball. They were unable to tag him for around a minute so the man decided to liven things up by simply catching the ball when it was thrown at him. After catching a couple balls thrown at him by the two boys, he then proceeded to repeatedly catch and return the ball to the girl after she attempted to tag him. This went on and on until he and the crowd then began to laugh at the girl for her ineffective throws.
Once the game ended and the girl had been thoroughly humiliated, the show moved on to some sort of dating game between, once again, boys and girls of about ten years old. Three girls wearing elaborate makeup and clothing that you might see on a college campus first sat and watched as each of the three boys performed some sort of talent in front of them; one did martial arts, another danced, and I didn’t see what the third did. After the talent show, each boy then had an interview with the three girls. Near the end of the show there was a preview of the next week’s episode, which showed a clip of one of the girls about to choose one of the three boys as they closed their eyes with their other hand.
All in all, I’d have to say this was a bad day developmentally for these kids. Whether it’s showcasing one girl’s shame on national TV or having some kids play The Bachelor instead of hide-and-go-seek at their friend’s house after school, I’d say the show should come up with something more appropriate for that age group. Bu then again, maybe I’m just old fashioned.
